A section of the Windward Main Road at Mt. St. George should now have reopened after it was closed to vehicular traffic last weekend.

Explaining the reason for the closure, the Secretary of the Division of Public Utilities and Infrastructure, Gary Melville says, Over the weekend (August 16) the retaining wall failed because it is an older wall.

Traffic had to be re-routed following the partial closure of the popular eastern roadway. Motorists travelling east were advised to use Castara Road and drivers heading west turned off by Caledonia Road and exited through Castara Road.

Most eastern residents say they were grateful for an alternative during the road closure. But, several did express disgust, especially with the behaviour of some of the drivers.

According to a Mt. St. George villager, drivers who were unaccustomed to using the alternative route drove through the village recklessly. Another resident stated that some unfamiliar drivers got lost and reached as far as Hillsborough Dam. He believes this occurred due to a lack of signage throughout the detour route. In his opinion, the two detour signs erected along the Windward Main Road were inadequate.

According to Secretary Melville, repairs to the retaining wall and road began on Monday. The job was completed by workers from the Divisions Development Programme. Melville indicates that DIPU staff worked overtime to rebuild the retaining wall and roadway. He said the roadway should have reopened by Friday (August 22).

See the article here:
Road closed after wall collapses

EVERY week The QT publishes the names of drink-drivers who have been in court in Ipswich over the past week.

Learner four times the limit

AFTER drinking throughout Australia Day last year crashing his car into a retaining wall at a party wasn't enough to convince a serial drink-driver to stay off the road.

Bruce Allen Baldwin, 30, was driving an overloaded, unregistered and uninsured ute, while he only had a learner's permit and was more than four times the legal limit.

After drinking through the day on January 26, 2013, Baldwin overloaded his ute to drive to a Hatton Vale party. He was swerving through traffic and speeding on the Warrego Hwy.

Baldwin, who was out of jail on parole having been imprisoned for torture, arrived at a party where he continued to drink. When one of the passengers wanted to leave, the four piled back into the ute and Baldwin again got behind the wheel. He straight away drove the car into a retaining wall.

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The rest is here:
QT's name and shame: This week's drink drivers

KUCHING: Teo Gek Tiang, who has been residing at Laman Bong Chin off Rock Road here since 1980, is dismayed that a commercial project had partially occupied the only access road to her house.

Met at her residence yesterday, she lamented that the current access road measured sevenmetres would shrink to lessthan five metres upon completion, leaving very limited margin for cars to reverse or exit.

She said the developer had covered up the monsoon drain to cater for the project and what struck her as irresponsible was it further occupied two or so meters along the access road for a retaining wall.

Never mind that they covered the monsoon drain and we would never know whats going on underneath. It is absolutely unacceptable now that they decided to make the only access road of ours narrower.

Do they expect us to do reverse all the way to get to the junction? Ive been living

here for almost 35 years and never have I come across such an irresponsible gesture, totally ignoring how we the residents here feel and the inconvenience caused, she said in the presence of Batu Lintang assemblyman See Chee How, who is also state PKR vice chairman and a lawyer by profession.

Also present was Teos daughter Su Hoon, who said letters of complaints had been sent to the Land and Survey Department (LSD) and Kuching South City Council (MBKS)

She added that she had also made a police report on Aug 12 against the developer.

As of yesterday, none of the authorities had either responded to the complaint or taken any action.

Su Hoon said some parts of the road had sunken as a result of the construction works which also caused part of the car porch to crack .

Go here to see the original:
Residents upset part of access road taken up by developers retaining wall

Retaining Wall "Engineered" by Parks #39; Masonry

By: Jody Parks

Read more here:
Retaining Wall "Engineered" by Parks' Masonry - Video

Sheila Quelch of Rockingham has filled the tire wall on her property. She uses the wall to divert water from her horse's living space. (Kayla Rice/Reformer)

ROCKINGHAM -- The owner of the property containing the so-called "tire wall" that has generated controversy throughout town has filled the tires with material to prevent them from becoming cesspools of bugs and bacteria and hopes the issue is closed.

Sheila Quelch, of 64 Golden Hill Road, said she removed 450 tires from her land and filled and covered the stacks of the remaining ones with fill supplied by the Rockingham Highway Department from its garage on Blake Street. She was careful to ensure the top tires of each row are exposed as required.

Quelch told the Reformer she had gotten a permit from the Vermont Agency of Natural Resources about two years ago to build a retaining wall out of whole tires and soon collected several hundred. She said floodwaters created by Tropical Storm Irene surged into her horse's living area and its accumulation caused the animal's hooves to start to decay. She told the Reformer she got permission to construct the tire wall in order to create a way to divert gushing water into a ditch in case an Irene-like event ever happens again.

"When (Tropical Storm) Irene came, all the water from the hill came down," she said walking up to her Belgian horse. "Her hooves look really good now, but they were rotting away. That's why this happened. ... The purpose of the tire wall is keep my horse's hooves from rotting, to keep them dry."

Despite the permit from the state, several nearby residents complained to the town that the tire wall was an eyesore that posed potential health hazards. The concerns resulted in the Rockingham Selectboard members dedicating themselves to resolving the issue. Municipal Manager Willis D. "Chip" Stearns II told the Reformer the fill was leftover town-owned ditching material and came at no more cost to taxpayers than if it had been delivered to any other town resident. He said anyone can get town material by applying for a permit to fill. Quelch explained the state gave her the permit for the tire wall and extended her deadline after she was unable to meet it because of weather conditions.

Stearns told the Reformer on Friday the issue -- as far as the town is concerned -- has been resolved. He said a state inspector will visit Quelch's property on May 20, 2015, to see if any additional fill is needed.

Quelch said she has not counted all the tires on her acre-and-a-half of property, but doubts she has the 900 to 1,200 she is suspected of having. She declined to say where she got the tires, but said the wall is a safe way of recycling them.

Several tractor tires are lined along a portion of her horse's roped-off living space. A separate wall of smaller tires is on the opposite side of a walking path and curls toward the edge of her property. Quelch filled the tractor tires and the smaller ones, while covering all the smaller tires except the top ones of each stack. She has layered horse manure on some of the smaller tires and said she plans to use it as compost when she plant perennials.

"It's great fertilizer," she said. "I have not bothered anybody. I am trying to improve my property."

Go here to see the original:
Property owner defends filled 'tire wall' on her land

August 20, 2014 City responds to controversy

By TESA GLASS tesa.glass@register-news.com The Register-News The Mt. Vernon Register-News Wed Aug 20, 2014, 06:14 AM CDT

MT. VERNON The city has issued a response to concerns cited by residents about a retaining wall on South 42nd Street which has fallen and who is responsible for its repair.

As stewards of taxpayers dollars, the City of Mt. Vernon has a responsibility to fairly and accurately assess all situations regarding claims against the City in various situations, information from the city states. It is the Councils obligation to make sure that these precious resources are utilized judiciously and only expended in areas under the jurisdiction of the City. The failure of the City to do this, might divert these monies from issues of more critical need, to areas not under our responsibility. This is the situation facing the City as it assesses the case brought against the City by Sara and Jon Henninger regarding the retaining wall.

About 40 people spoke out in support of the Henningers at Mondays City Council meeting. The couple, whose property is bordered by the retaining wall, have filed a lawsuit against the city to have the problem fixed.

The City of Mt. Vernon has been working with Mr. and Mrs. Henninger on the situation with their retaining wall since approximately October 2010, the information continues. At that time the City received a letter from their legal counsel addressing their concerns about the wall. The City immediately responded to the Henningers and expressed its opinion regarding ownership and maintenance of the wall based on documents regarding the project. The City did not have any contact with the Henningers about this issue until a scheduled meeting with the Mayor and City Manager iniated by the Henningers on May 10, 2013. At that time the City restated its position regarding the ownership and maintenance of the wall. On May 20, 2014, Mrs. Henninger spoke at the Council meeting about her concerns with the wall.

See original here:
City responds to controversy

ST. ANTHONY The St. Anthony City Council held a fiscal 2015 budget hearing last week during its regular monthly meeting.

City clerk Patty Parkinson explained to the council there was an optional 3 percent tax increase that the council could vote to impose.

If you dont want to take it, what you would leave is approximately $30,000 that the city would be able to levy for, if you decided not to take the 3 percent Parkinson said. What that means is eventually that will go away if you dont ever levy for it.

Parkinson said when St. Anthony joined the fire district they had to raise their taxes.

Mayor Neils Thueson asked the council if they wanted to take the 3 percent increase or leave it the way it is.

Parkinson said utility rates would change in October. There would be a 37 cent increase in water rates and 91 cents for sewer costs.

I think if you take smaller increases over the years it makes it a little bit easier to budget for, Parkinson said.

Council members echoed their support for the finance committees proposal to impose the small raises.

The city did not raise property taxes.

Thueson closed the hearing after asking if anyone had any additional comments.

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Budget, retaining wall and dogs discussed at council meeting

North Charleston workers on Monday finish putting in a new sidewalk next to a home owned by Elliott Summey, the mayor's son, on the corner of Buist Avenue and Old Park Road near Park Circle. Grace Beahm/Staff

North Charleston has spent $37,000 on extensive landscaping and other improvements by city work crews at a house owned by Elliott Summey, the mayor's son and vice chairman of Charleston County Council.

City officials said the work was related to sidewalk repairs necessary for public safety - a project that included tree and brush removal, the replacement of a brick retaining wall, and landscaping with four pallets of sod, rows of azalea and rose bushes and new trees.

"We would have done that for anybody's (house)," said North Charleston Public Works Director Jim Hutto.

Park Circle resident Erin Sharpe is skeptical. She said she's been watching the work progress for more than a month, and said she and others thought it looked like special treatment for the mayor's son.

"It's not right," she said. "They don't come and landscape my yard and trim bushes."

Elliott Summey said he didn't ask for the work, and didn't benefit from it. In fact, he says the city went on his property without his permission, destroyed a dozen "priceless" heirloom camellias cross-bred by a botanist who used to live there, and caused a sewer back-up.

"They destroyed $40,000 of landscaping," Summey said. "They caused the sewer to back up into my basement, and I had to give the tenant a free month's rent."

Sharpe said Elliott Summey's overgrown yard had made the sidewalk impassable. Summey lives in Mount Pleasant with his family, and his house on the corner of Buist Avenue and Old Park Road is a rental.

"If my yard looked like that, code enforcement would have been all over me," Sharpe said.

Continue reading here:
Neighbors question city landscaping work at home owned by N. Charleston mayor's son

August 19, 2014 Council urged to fix wall

By TESA GLASS tesa.glass@register-news.com The Register-News The Mt. Vernon Register-News Tue Aug 19, 2014, 06:14 AM CDT

MT. VERNON About 40 people blasted the City Council for choosing litigation over fixing a retaining wall on South 42nd Street.

In April 2012, Jon and Sarah Henninger addressed the council about problems with a retaining wall leaning over the sidewalk on North 42nd Street, asking the city to fix the problem before the wall fell on the sidewalk.

Since that time, the couple have filed a lawsuit against the city, and the wall has fallen onto the sidewalk. Last week, a sign was posted by the Henningers in their yard urging the city to please fix this wall.

According to City Attorney David Leggans, there is a legitimate dispute on the ownership of the wall. Its in litigation and being handled by the citys insurance carrier.

Resident Chris Donoho read a message from former Mayor Mark Terry, who explained the wall was built by the city.

Forty-second Street was widened during my last couple of years as mayor, Terry wrote. It was a city project, authorized, funded and directed by the city. If there was a design fault or construction fault by the contractor, that

caused the wall to fail, the city is responsible and should step up and accept responsibility. We can build beautiful water towers, spend thousands on signs to make sure we know where were going around the city and buy another study from every expert with a briefcase who drives through town selling his wares but sometimes we might just want (to) stop and look at the little things in the big scheme of things. This family did not cause this problem. They should not have to have a structural engineer on retainer to inspect this wall every year for structural integrity. The city should step forward, accept its responsibility, correct the problem and move on.

Excerpt from:
Council urged to fix wall

Federal dollars whether they be used to reimburse homeowners who had major out-of-pocket expenses recovering from last September's floods or for building a new retaining wall on a critical stretch of the Big Thompson River was the theme Monday night at a town hall-style meeting in Longmont featuring the state of Colorado's flood recovery team.

For more information or to submit comments:

To review Colorado's Community Development Block Grant-Disaster Recovery draft "action plan," visit dola.colorado.gov/cdbg-dr.That's also where people can submit comments, or they can email their comments to dola_recovery@state.co.us until Aug. 30. The state will forward a final draft action plan to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development in September.

Molly Urbina, the state's chief recovery officer, walked the audience through a draft "action plan" that will be finalized before being sent off to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban development, which has announced a new round of flood recovery money totaling $199.3 million it wants to give to the state.

The money is designed to aid in recovery from any federally declared disaster in Colorado 2011 and 2013. That will include not just last September's floods but also the Black Canyon and Hyde Park fires.

But because the money is coming through the federal government's Community Development Block Grant-Disaster Recovery funds program, 80 percent of the funds must go to the three counties hurt most by September's flooding, and 50 percent must go to benefit low- and moderate income people.

"Reallocation of funds from the top down, and increased funding, is very important," said Deward Walker, one of about a dozen speakers state officials listened to.

Walker owns a tree farm in Four Mile Canyon that suffered a lot of damage in the flood, at least part of that damage due to scarred hillsides from a previous fire that didn't hold the water in September's heavy rains.

One woman spoke of refurbishing three 120-year-old cabins and turning them into resort cabins on property she owns at the base of Big Thompson Canyon. Even though the cabins were well out of the flood plain, the water during the flood scoured away the land, leaving two of the cabins to fall into the river and the third sitting just eight-feet from the sheer dropoff to the river that the flood left behind.

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Longmont host to regional flood recovery program